CU Parent, Spring 2008
Summer presents opportunities to explore career options
Whether you look toward summer homecoming with excitement or uneasiness, summertime is a great opportunity for your son or daughter to explore his or her future career possibilities. As you probably already know, students are more likely to pursue something if they come up with the idea; thus encouragement or brainstorming typically works better than flat-out advice. Here are some ideas to help you plant some seeds with your son or daughter:
Recommendations for freshman and sophomore students:
- Work a part-time job for a company within a field of interest. For example, a student who loves mountain bikes may work part-time in a bike shop in order to gain more experience and make contacts with leaders in the field.
- Job-shadow or do an informational interview with people working in their areas of interest. As the parent, you may have a few contacts who could help your son or daughter get started.
- Find an opportunity to volunteer or learn more about another culture during summer vacation. Employers appreciate and value cross-cultural experiences and know that many life lessons are learned by getting involved in one's community and abroad.
- Take a career assessment test at Career Services. We offer the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the Strong Interest Inventory (SII) among others. Taking an assessment can provide new ideas and/or validate current plans.
Recommendations for juniors and seniors
- Spend the summer in a career-related internship to gain exposure to a specific career field or industry and gain valuable contacts who could potentially help with the full-time job search upon graduation.
- Develop a solid resume and cover letter, and have it reviewed by a career counselor and someone in the student's specific field of interest.
- Develop a list of friends and family members to e-mail with an updated resume, and request information about possible internship opportunities.
- Utilize resources on campus. Encourage students to get to know a few professors in their departments so that they feel comfortable asking them to serve as references in the future. While this may be difficult to do during the summer months, your student can spend some time investigating professors' websites to learn more about their teaching and research interests. Later, when the time comes to visit during office hours, your student will feel more comfortable talking with him or her. Ask your son or daughter about professors they've connected with, and encourage them to get to know them better.
Your student may not follow the suggestions listed above, and may instead choose a totally different path and that's okay! They will find their way in their own time (maybe even after graduation), and we're here to help in any way we can. Career Services can assist with all aspects of your student's professional development, including career planning and decision-making, resumes, cover letters, interviewing, the job search process, and preparation for graduate school. Please don't hesitate to contact us if we can be of help.
Cori Shaff: 303-492-4120, Cori.Shaff@colorado.edu
Ann Herrmann: 303-492-8020, Ann.Herrmann@colorado.edu
By Ann Herrmann, Career Services
Life at home after the freshman year
Summer is almost here and many CU freshmen completing their first year away at college are planning to return home for the summer. Plans include relaxing, sleeping, playing, maybe earning some money and . . . for some, stressing out their parents. Students are coming home after being on their own with no curfews, no household chores, and no family obligations. For parents, the move back home can be trying. For us and our four children, the adjustment was different with each child, and generally quick. Here are some tips we found on the University of Washington in St. Louis website to keep in mind when your student comes home for the summer.
Keep expectations realistic: Our students may have matured over the school year, however don't be surprised when they take the family car and return it with an empty gas tank. You will be cleaning the kitchen more often.
Revisit house rules: Communicate expectations. Curfew may no longer be appropriate, but an expectation of a phone call if your student will be out late may be reasonable.
Acknowledge changes in your student: Maybe your child left as the high school science wiz, but has discovered art in college. It may not be appropriate to continue discussions about medical school. Accept their new friendships.
Keep a sense of perspective and of humor: You are now hearing the microwave or the hum of the dryer at 2 a.m. Remember, this is your child fixing a snack and doing laundry at a time that's normal for them. Towels left on the bathroom floor or sleeping until noon may be humorous at first, but it may become a real drag if it lasts all summer. As in high school, pick your battles.
Family dynamics may change: When your student was away at college, everyone in the family adjusted their place in the family. It may take a while for siblings to work out their new relationship. A younger sibling may be used to being "in charge," until the older one comes home. Understand the root of discontent—the family reconfigured when the student was away. When they return, there are new roles in the family like who gets the car, who sits where at the dinner table, chores, bedrooms, etc.
Don't be offended if your student is homesick for school: When your student is away at school, it begins to feel like home to them with new friends and connections. They may even start calling Boulder home, but remember this is what you hoped for last fall—it means that your student made the right college choice.
We know that parents don't stop being parents. We don't just turn off our "worry button" when it's 2 a.m. and the car isn't back in the garage. However, it helps to communicate agreements that recognize our student's growing independence and our need to not worry so much. Summer conversations may include living habits, money, expenses, and relationships with siblings. We found that when we approached our student as an adult, they were much more receptive. Summer then becomes a friendly reminder of who we are and how we all change. And change is good.
CUPA Board members Dennis and Joyce Kinde have four children ages 20-25 who are attending or have recently graduated from college. In August, Joyce joined the Parent Relations Office as assistant director.
Under their roof
Since last August, I have been living on my own schedule. Even school fit my whims. Now here I am on the other side of two semesters—30 credit hours, a few all-nighters, and countless study-turned-movie nights—and I have to be home by 11? Is this for real? Not that my parents still enforce a curfew, but they do like me to demonstrate what they call "respect." Meaning essentially, "We wait up for you. Get home early." Being the angelic daughter I am, I comply. But it still bites.
Such is the life of a first-year student who's come home for the summer. Living on campus freshman year pretty much ensures that we return home for the three-month break, unless we snag a place before Maymester. It may be an inconvenience for us to once again hear the sound of "While you're under my roof, you'll live by my rules," grating against our eardrums, but we inevitably end up back there.
But don't despair! There is a redemptive aspect to this tale of woe. By the time May comes around, I am not only sick of dorm food, disgusting floor bathrooms, and my roommate, but I have a renewed appreciation for how brief a span of time three months really is. When I get home, I know for a fact that my mom will cook chicken and noodles for dinner–my favorite–and I know that I have my own bedroom where I can actually close the door, and I know for a fact that the bathroom is clean. And I know they'll want me home by 11. And I wouldn't have it any other way. I look forward to my summer at home, as I hope all my first-year friends do.
By Emily Sawyer, freshman, journalism